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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Wednesday, July 06, 2016

RSPB: The snake that came in from the cold

This is the story of a
location misted by a veil of secrecy, of mysterious codenames, and unnamed
conservation workers, like the plot of a spy novel. It is also the story of a
snake.

Let’s start at the beginning
(imagine being briefed by a hard-faced spymaster): ten smooth snakes were
released at an RSPB site somewhere in Devon in 2009, followed by another seven
in 2010 – because of the sensitivity we cannot reveal the precise
location.

The re-introduced snakes – the
UK’s rarest reptile, largely restricted to a few heaths in Dorset, Hampshire and
Surrey – then went to ground for several years.

Evidence the shy and secretive
reptile was breeding came this year when a recently born snake was seen,
photographed and given the codename Cyril.

Agent T – we can say he or she
is an RSPB staffer – takes up the story: “I expected them to breed and may be
they have been breeding but we have not seen any evidence, they are very
elusive. Then, about three weeks ago, we found a juvenile from this year, so
that indicates they are actually breeding.

“It’s great they are breeding,
we took the initiative to re-introduce them, we beavered away to improve their
habitat and now we’ve got a good result.”

Smooth snakes are
extraordinarily difficult to find – it can take ten years of work simply to
prove the species is present or absent from a particular place – and those
recorded at the re-introduction site are given names beginning with C: Cedric
was recorded in 2010 and 2011, Celia in 2011.

Both could have been born in
Devon, some of the re-introduced females may have been pregnant, but, crucially,
it wasn’t evidence the new population was breeding.

Agent R – we can say he or she
is an RSPB volunteer – and a crack team of fellow conservation volunteers have
been watching for the snakes since the first were re-introduced, visiting the
site at least once a fortnight, from March to October; having first memorised
the password and checked they were not being followed,
naturally.

Agent R said: “We saw snakes on
a number of occasions in the first year, and a number of times in the second
year, then hardly anything for four years. Then this year we got lucky and we
have seen two adults and a kiddie.

“Now we have got evidence
proving breeding and there is a chance there may be others, so we are over the
moon.”

The two adult snakes seen with
Cyril have not yet been given names.

Nick Moulton (yes, it is his
real name), of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, one of the partners
in the re-introduction project, said: “It really is a difficult species to work
with so for the volunteers to stick with it and find that proof of breeding is
brilliant. It is now re-established in Devon, this really is a big
find.”

The re-introduction was a
partnership between the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, Clinton Devon
Estates, and the RSPB, supported by English Nature.

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